If you are strolling down Queen West, you will no doubt be inundated with food options and, like any tourist-centric area, it pays to know where to go (and what to avoid). Early Bird on Queen, just east of Bathurst, is a good place to go if you need a pick-me-up from all of that shopping or just want to meet a friend for brunch.

From the outside, Early Bird appears to be just another millennial-loving coffee shop. Now, don’t get me wrong, it IS a millennial-loving coffee shop but they also serve a full menu of healthy-ish brunch items such as Avocado Toast (are you surprised?), BLT, eggs benny (on crispy potato latkes with avocado and beet hollandaise), kukusabzi (Persian-style frittata) and chia seed pudding. If you aren’t in the mood to commit to a full meal, their energy balls are also a great quick snack to take on the run.

The room is bright with a large communal table as well as smaller tables for parties of 2-4. Note that on the weekends, the seating is “screen free”, which means you cannot park there with your laptop or iPad – you will have to go old-school and pull out a book or chat with a friend.